BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 611
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Hill
VERSION: 8/4/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: August 25, 2014
URGENCY: YES
SUBJECT:
Limousines: inspections
DESCRIPTION:
This bill assigns the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to
regulate the safe operation of modified limousines, which the
bill defines, develop an inspection program for businesses that
operate these vehicles, and determine a fee to support that
program.
ANALYSIS:
Charter-party carriers of passengers and passenger stage
corporations are businesses that transport persons by motor
vehicle for compensation over the public highways of California.
Charter-party carriers are principally charter bus and
limousine companies. Passenger stage corporations provide
fixed-route scheduled bus service and on-call airport shuttles
that are able to charge individual fares. By definition, they
are not taxicabs, transit vehicles, school transportation
vehicles, or other specified transportation services.
Typically, these businesses offer their customers both a vehicle
and driver to transport passengers on a prearranged basis.
To operate as a charter-party carrier or passenger stage
corporation, the carrier must obtain from the Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) a permit or certificate, place identifying
symbols or plates on its vehicles, and acquire adequate
liability insurance. The charter-party carrier must renew its
permit or certificate every three years, but passenger stage
corporations' certificates do not expire.
The PUC issues six different types of charter-party carrier
permits and certificates, depending on the type of vehicle
operated and types of transportation services offered. Three of
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these encompass limousines, of which there are about 12,500
licensed to operate for charter-party carrier businesses in this
state. Limousines can be sedans or sport utility vehicles and
by definition seat fewer than ten passengers. Most passenger
stage corporations-if they have limos-operate them under a
charter-party carrier permit or certificate.
Before the PUC can issue a permit or certificate, it must
require a business applying for or renewing the permit or
certificate to establish that it is reasonably fit and
financially responsible to conduct or continue to conduct
transportation services. The PUC shall not issue or renew a
permit or certificate unless the applicant meets several
requirements, including:
It is financially and organizationally capable of
operating its business so that it complies with rules and
regulations governing highway safety
It has a preventative maintenance program in effect for
its vehicles, as prescribed in CHP regulations, and it will
maintain its vehicles in safe operating condition
It regularly checks the driving records of and has in
effect a safety education and training program for all of
its drivers
It provides for controlled substance and alcohol testing
of its drivers
This bill :
1.Defines a "modified limousine" as any vehicle that someone has
modified, altered, or extended to increase the vehicle's
overall wheelbase in an amount sufficient to accommodate
additional passengers with a seating capacity of not more than
10, including the driver, and that is used to transport
passengers for hire.
2.Charges CHP with regulating the safe operation of modified
limousines. To this end, the bill mandates that passenger
stage corporations and charter-party carriers report annually
to the PUC all of their modified limousines and the locations
of the terminals from which they operate. PUC, in turn, must
provide this information to the CHP.
3.Requires CHP, not later than July 1, 2016, to implement a
program to conduct safety inspections of these modified
limousines' terminals. CHP shall inspect each terminal at
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least once every 13 months through a program that includes
ensuring all of the following:
Safe operation of the vehicle
Installation of safety equipment
Retention of maintenance logs, accident reports, and
records of driver discipline
Compliance with federal and state motor vehicle safety
standards
Examination of a preventative maintenance program
Where a new owner has acquired the vehicle, transmission
of the relevant safety and maintenance information from the
previous owner
To support this inspection program, the bill requires that CHP
establish, through regulations, an inspection fee that varies
based on the number of modified limousines each charter-party
carrier or passenger stage corporation operates. Every 13
months, the PUC shall collect the fees, which CHP shall set to
generate an amount sufficient to cover solely the costs of
this modified limousine inspection program.
1.Permits CHP to recommend to the PUC that it suspend or revoke
a carrier's operating permit if that carrier failed to operate
in compliance with state law on a consistent basis or in such
a way as to create an imminent danger to public safety.
2.Deletes a requirement in law that DMV issue and that
limousines display livery plates. Instead, they would display
commercial vehicle license plates.
3.Requires those operating modified limousines to equip their
modified limousines with two readily accessible and fully
charged fire extinguishers having a specified rating,
maintained in efficient operating condition, and mounted in
the driver's compartment and accessible to the passengers.
The driver of such a vehicle shall notify passengers of the
location of the fire extinguishers prior to commencing a trip.
4.Includes language to ensure it does not chapter out the
changes proposed in this year's transportation omnibus bill,
AB 2752 (Transportation Committee).
5.Is an urgency measure.
COMMENTS:
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1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill in response to an
incident that occurred on May 5, 2013, in which a limousine
caught fire while traveling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
over the San Francisco Bay. That limousine was carrying nine
passengers. The driver escaped unharmed and four of the
passengers escaped through the driver's partition. The five
other passengers died in the blaze. The author notes that
under current law both the PUC and the CHP regulate
charter-party vehicles with a seating capacity of more than 10
passengers, including larger limousines and party buses. CHP
regulations require these charter-party vehicles to be
equipped with a fire extinguisher and to undergo an annual
safety inspection.
On the other hand, the PUC is the sole regulator of
charter-party vehicles with a seating capacity of less than 10
passengers, such as smaller six- and eight-passenger
limousines, which are not therefore subject to CHP safety
regulations requiring fire extinguishers and inspections.
Last year the author carried SB 338 to extend these safety
protections to smaller limousines that someone has modified
and that are offered for hire, as the limousine involved in
the May 5 incident was. While SB 338 passed the Legislature,
Governor Brown vetoed that bill. The author is trying again
with this bill, and notes, as he did last year, that a life in
a nine-passenger vehicle is just as valuable as a life in a
10-passenger vehicle.
2.Veto message . Last year the governor vetoed a similar
measure, SB 338 (Hill), because he stated that the $75 flat
fee in that bill was insufficient to cover the CHP costs of
conducting limousine inspections. His veto message read in
part, "I call on the Legislature to send me urgency
legislation next January with the same provisions except
authorizing the CHP to charge a fee for the actual cost to
perform the inspections." This bill allows CHP to set the fee
through regulation in an amount sufficient to cover its costs
associated with the limousine inspection program the bill
creates.
3.Concurrence hearing . This bill is back in the Senate on
concurrence and has been referred to this committee pursuant
to Senate Rule 29.10 because Assembly amendments deleted all
contents of the bill as passed by the Senate, when it related
to the PUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates. At the 29.10
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hearing, the committee may not amend the bill further and may
only hold the bill or return the bill to the Senate floor.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
SB 338 (Hill) would have required owners of limousines to equip
their limousines with two fire extinguishers, one near the
driver and one accessible to passengers, and required the CHP to
inspect limousines offered for hire. Vetoed.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 75-1
Appr: 16-1
U&C: 15-0
Trans: 16-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Thursday, August 21, 2014.)
SUPPORT: Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Professional Firefighters
California State Sheriffs Association
Greater California Livery Association
Orange County Fire Authority
OPPOSED: None received.